A new breakthrough in their program to start reusing the first stage of their Falcon 9 heavy lift rocket. This time they put a big communications satellite, BulgariaSat-1 (Bulgaria's first such satellite) into parking orbit on the way to geosynchronous orbit for the satellite, and were able to land the first stage back on the landing platform drone ship... which on a side note is named the Of Course I Still Love You.

This was by far the highest heat upon re-entry and g-force faced by the SpaceX team in accomplishing this feat.

Elon Musk's tweet BEFORE the launch:
"Falcon 9 will experience its highest ever reentry force and heat in today's launch. Good chance rocket booster doesn't make it back."

Elon Musk's tweet AFTER the launch:
"Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used almost all of the emergency crush core), but otherwise good."

Official statement from SpaceX:

"SpaceX is targeting launch of BulgariaSat-1 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for Friday, June 23, at 3:10 p.m. EDT, or 18:10 UTC, with a backup launch opportunity on Saturday, June 24, at 2:10 p.m. BulgariaSat-1 is the first geostationary communications satellite in Bulgaria’s history.

"Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important revelation of all! Could it be that they were not really privy to the thoughts of God?" - E. O. Wilson

(23-06-2017 08:24 PM)RocketSurgeon76 Wrote: A new breakthrough in their program to start reusing the first stage of their Falcon 9 heavy lift rocket. This time they put a big communications satellite, BulgariaSat-1 (Bulgaria's first such satellite) into parking orbit on the way to geosynchronous orbit for the satellite, and were able to land the first stage back on the landing platform drone ship... which on a side note is named the Of Course I Still Love You.

This was by far the highest heat upon re-entry and g-force faced by the SpaceX team in accomplishing this feat.

Elon Musk's tweet BEFORE the launch:
"Falcon 9 will experience its highest ever reentry force and heat in today's launch. Good chance rocket booster doesn't make it back."

Elon Musk's tweet AFTER the launch:
"Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used almost all of the emergency crush core), but otherwise good."

Official statement from SpaceX:

"SpaceX is targeting launch of BulgariaSat-1 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for Friday, June 23, at 3:10 p.m. EDT, or 18:10 UTC, with a backup launch opportunity on Saturday, June 24, at 2:10 p.m. BulgariaSat-1 is the first geostationary communications satellite in Bulgaria’s history.

Some people I used to work with at another contractor went to work for Space-X. It's a great place to work, I hear. They're doing some crazy shit with their boosters and Dragon capsule, and I applaud them for it.